Today is
Thursday, June 21, the 173rd day of 2012. There are 193 days left in the year.

Highlights in History

• On
June 21, 1942, German forces led by Erwin Rommel captured the Libyan city of
Tobruk during World War II. (After his victory, Rommel was promoted to field marshal; Tobruk was
retaken by the Allies in November 1942.) • In
1788, the U.S. Constitution went into effect as New Hampshire became the ninth
state to ratify it.

• In
1912, author and critic Mary McCarthy was born in Seattle.

• In
1932, heavyweight Max Schmeling lost a title fight rematch in New York by decision
to Jack Sharkey, prompting Schmeling’s manager, Joe Jacobs, to exclaim, “We was robbed!”

• In
1964, civil-rights workers Michael H. Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James E.
Chaney were murdered in Philadelphia, Miss.; their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam six
weeks later.

• In
1982, a jury in Washington found John Hinckley Jr. not guilty by reason of
insanity in the shootings of President Ronald Reagan and three other men.

• In
2005, 41 years to the day after three civil-rights workers were beaten and shot to
death, Edgar Ray Killen, an 80-year-old former Ku Klux Klansman, was found guilty of manslaughter
in a Mississippi court. (Killen was sentenced to 60 years in prison.)

•
Ten years ago: One of the worst wildfires in Arizona history grew to 128,000
acres, forcing thousands of homeowners near the community of Show Low to flee.

•
Five years ago: Bob Evans, creator of his namesake restaurant chain, died in
Cleveland at age 89.